Chapter 7

My head spun. Of all the things my woman could have said, I never saw that one coming. My mind raced, cycling through the events of the past few hours. All the signs had been there. I’d known from the start that they wanted something from me, but this?!

I pulled away from her touch and slowly glided around the oval shape of the clearing. The intense gaze of my Naima weighed on me. As much as I loved her attention, I felt grateful for her silence while I sorted out my thoughts. Too many of them were simultaneously firing inside my head.

I had already intended to cross over. Despite my careful planning, as a newborn in that world, I would be vulnerable, exposed, without a penny to my name. I’d observed so many Transients die during their transformation due to their poor choice of location for their mortal birth, getting devoured mid-shift by Beasts or other Walkers. I’d heard tales of others dying of exposure, starvation, or insufficient energy to sustain them until they could bind their creator.

With her blessing to cross over, I wouldn’t have to deal with any of these non-negligible inconveniences. Better yet, I wouldn’t have to change who I was. I could still hunt and dominate lesser Walkers. Those Nightmares would be the ultimate prey. A true challenge at last. There was nothing more boring than hunting a Spark. In spite of the crazy abilities their creators gave them, Beasts were usually too stupid to use them in a truly terrifying and tactical way. Sentient beings were the most fun quarry, especially Nightmares. Unlike Wishes, who were usually sweet and peaceful, Nightmares and Dark Desires were predators. I already relished the sound of their cries of agony, the scent of their fear, and the taste of their ethereal essence as I gorged on their lifeforce.

As an added bonus, in the Mortal Plane, I could amass an endless amount of power… with the humans’ blessing… and with my creator to anchor me.

My Naima… I could finally bind her to me and claim her as my true mate.

But what if it’s a trap?

Based on my observation of other Transients, it took hours for the human shell to form, hours during which they were completely vulnerable. If she or that shadow organization wanted to permanently kill me, I would be helpless to defend myself. Assuming I made it through that phase, after my birth, I would have lost at least a third of my current power—maybe even a bit more. I could be easily controlled or coerced.

Yet, even as those thoughts crossed my mind, I dismissed such deception from my mate. That did not mean that the Thomson male wasn’t using her to get to me and others like me.

I glided back to my Naima. She stared at me expectantly. Although she attempted to look nonchalant, I could feel the tension bubbling inside of her, and her strong desire for me to say yes. That did strange but wonderful things to me. Who would have thought that being wanted could be more intoxicating than being feared?

It was my turn to cup her face with both hands as I pillaged the memories of her interactions with Thomson. Even though she disliked the intrusion, my bride didn’t balk. Then again, I could see from her memories that Thomson had warned her that hiding anything from me in the Mist would be futile.

Unfortunately, the information I thus gathered only confirmed what Naima had said, and her genuine desire that I accept. But it didn’t validate Thomson’s honesty. When I had branded her, then demanded Thomson open the door to set me free, his concern for my woman had been genuine. But had it been out of worry for her welfare or for the bait he intended to lure me with?

It stung that Naima wanted me for what I could do for them, but not for what we could be together. No matter, I would make her love me. Deep down, she already did. I would simply make sure she acknowledged it. My bride had given me a taste of what it felt like to be wanted by her, and I was already addicted.

“Tell me, Naima,” I said in a sensual voice, my hands slipping down her cheeks in a gentle caress, along the gentle curve of her shoulders, then down her slender back. “Are you my reward for dispatching those evil Nightmares?”

Naima’s breath caught in her throat when I pulled her tightly against me. She placed her palms on my chest as if to push me back but, interestingly, my woman didn’t. There was no guile or deception in her compliance. That turned me on.

“No,” my female said in a whisper. “I am not your reward. Being the apex predator in both our worlds will be. But if you cross over, as your anchor, you and I will spend time together.”

“As mates?” I insisted.

“No,” she said in a firm but gentle tone.

“How then?” I challenged, annoyed by her conviction and yet excited at the thought of breaking down her walls.

“I will be your coach, your mentor to help you learn the ways of my people,” Naima said. “You know little of the rules of our world. From what I’ve read about Transients, learning to adapt to human life, and especially the realities of a human body, can be challenging to figure out alone. Living in society can also be quite mystifying.”

Her excitement at that prospect was contagious. I tightened my hold around my woman’s slender waist. Naima’s eyes widened again as I leaned forward. She thought I was going to kiss her. I almost did. But I pressed a kiss at the corner of her mouth then brushed my lips against her soft skin all the way to her right ear.

“When I cross into your world, I will claim you as my mate,” I whispered in a voice full of promise.

She shivered, her hands on my chest tightening their grip. I straightened to stare her in the eyes. My right hand on her back slid up to wrap around her neck. Her lips parted in a soft gasp when I slightly squeezed.

“You will want me to,” I added, drawing her face towards mine by the hold around her neck. “I will drive you crazy for me.”

I crushed her lips in a searing but brief kiss. She stiffened at first, but once again didn’t fight back. A sense of triumph soared within me at the confused, inner tug-of-war and sliver of arousal I perceived from her. Yes, I would make her love me.

I released her and glided a few steps away, feeling bereft now that I no longer basked in the warmth of her body. She touched two fingers to her lips, visibly shaken by her conflicting emotions.

“Go back to sleep, my mate,” I said at last. “No Nightmare will further haunt you this night.”

Her eyes widened at my unexpected comment. “What? Wait! What does that mean? Will you come? Will you do it?”

I smiled in a non-committal fashion. It wasn’t fair as she couldn’t really see my ethereal features, but she could sense my responses.

“You will find out soon enough. Sweet dreams, my love.”

Without giving her a chance to argue, I sent her consciousness back to her body, only hanging on to a sliver of it, which I forwarded to the safety of a pretty memory of her youth. Naima often dreamt of that camp she’d gone to with her parents—one of the few times where they had simply been happy. No arguments, no fights, just a loving family spending quality time together. I would have her well-rested when next we meet.

For now, I had someone to talk to.

I crossed my protective wall, leaving the safety of my territory then opened my senses. With my great power, it took me seconds to locate my target. I sighed in annoyance realizing how far his host’s territory was located from here. I could teleport and be there in a blink, but I didn’t want to expend that much energy. It would only be a ten to fifteen-minute flight from here. Naturally, I munched on some easy prey along the way; Sparks too unaware to play tourists in the Mortal Plane while the portals were opened.

It struck me then that my days of feeding on Wishes might come to an end. I didn’t need my woman to tell me that they would be off-limits. For shame. Humans and their compassion were a mystery I hoped never to comprehend.

The thick walls of Risul’s domain crackled with their lethal warnings. They looked like rolling thunder clouds, rippling with lightning. Their intensity increased as I made my approach. I hovered at a safe distance, admiring with begrudging respect the defenses erected by a Wish. Risul had always been a careful and quiet one. He had built his power over the years, lurking in safe areas, feeding on apathetic Sparks while he fortified his lands. Then, in an unexpected twist, the lucky bastard had saved his creator from committing suicide in the Mist. Since then, she had given up mortal life to move permanently here in the Mist.

Having his creator willingly come live by his side in our realm had made Risul incredibly powerful. So much so, he no longer needed to hunt to maintain his tremendous energy level. Thankfully, he was a Wish and not a Nightmare. Had he continued hunting, he might have become as unkillable and god-like to us as that Darryl had become to the humans.

A bright light flashed as the lord of the domain crossed his defensive walls into the no man’s land outside where I waited. Risul came out in his wraith form, his shadowy tendrils already out, crackling with impressive energy. I smiled at this deliberate display of power. The Wish was peaceful but wouldn’t hesitate to kill to protect those he cherished.

“These lands and those within are not for you to hunt,” Risul said as sole greeting. “You will leave my lands and not return.”

“I am not on your lands, nor do I wish to enter them,” I said smugly. “But I do wish to have a word with your guest. Would you be so kind as to call him out?”

“You will not harm or threaten my stepfather,” Risul hissed, advancing slightly in a menacing fashion.

“I have no such intentions,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “You can read me, Wish,” I continued with a sliver of disdain in my voice as I stated his classification. “There is no lying in the Mist. You know what I seek. Bring him.”

I felt his consciousness brush against mine as he assessed my intentions. He scrunched his face as if he’d bitten into something sour.

“I do not command him,” Risul said with obvious reluctance. “I will forward him your message. He will choose whether or not to address you. If he declines, you will leave at once and never return.”

I acknowledged his comment with a stiff nod. The Wish flew back through his wall. Seconds later, I was shocked to see Thomson walk out of the dark clouds, stopping a few steps from their protective embrace. His eagerness, and the visible displeasure of his son-in-law hovering behind him, majorly flattered my ego.

“Greetings, Zain,” Director Thomson said to me.

He didn’t shout, and yet his words reached me loud and clear, despite the great distance between us. With that alone, the human was making a statement, establishing that despite being a foreigner in our lands, he had mastered some of the Mist’s quirkier features—something that could only be accomplished with many years of experience.

“Risul tells me you wished to see me,” Thomson continued. “Or should I say, that you wished to read me?”

I didn’t answer, too busy flipping through his thoughts and memories. The smugness of his broadening smile aggravated me. I hated that he had already anticipated that this night might play out this way. He had expected my visit. Being predictable didn’t sit well with being a predator. However, he held no deception either. Worse still, Thomson was laying all of his hopes on my shoulders. He truly believed I was the answer to the Nightmare—both literally and figuratively—that was plaguing his existence. Even though I didn’t give two shits about dead humans, past and future, his hope in me being their savior, their champion, stroked my massive ego.

“Time is of the essence for both you and us,” the human said once he accurately guessed I was done reading him. “Should you choose to join us, you should aim to initiate your birth in the next ten to eighteen hours. It takes anywhere between six to twelve hours for your kind to form a human vessel. If something goes wrong, you want to complete the process long before the Mist ends so that you can safely make it back home before the portals close. As for us, you know the urgency of our situation. But it matters for you as well. With every passing day, Darryl grows stronger.”

And that was the biggest concern. I couldn’t let him become too powerful, or I might not survive the encounter. I wasn’t embarking on such a journey only to get my butt handed to me right at the start.

“I will think on it,” I replied, trying to sound bored.

His barely repressed snort pissed me off. He knew he had me the minute his son-in-law had gone in to announce my presence. I would find the appropriate time to knock him down a notch or two in the not so distant future.

“Should you wish to join us, simply come back to the same door you entered earlier. A safe birthplace will await you.”

I gave him a stiff nod, then spun around and flew away. I needed to hunt one last time before I left this realm.